I have always enjoyed experimenting and including digital and other educational technology tools in my classroom.  Normally settling to the left of the adoption curve, my students saw what it means to learn.  Showing how it was okay to struggle and sometimes fail, for development in an eventual positive direction.  Although I am an early-adopter, I still had and have a lot to learn.  The courses of 5302 and 5303 encouraged me to learn more.  In it, I had to time to develop an ePortfolio, presentations, and videos as I dove into educational technology tools and techniques.  These were just the initial steps of my journey as a digital learner and leader.  Some of my first assignments challenged to determine where I was as a digital learner and display this knowledge.  

One of the goals of the Digital Learning and Leading program is the develop leaders of organizational change.  This is encouraged by the student’s choice of an innovation plan.  One that the student will continue to look back at, develop, and extend throughout the learning process.  Courses of 5304, 5305 and 5313 were where I struggled to find my role as a leader.  It was the time to develop an innovation plan that encouraged that development.   My innovation plan centered around the effective and efficient use of iPads in the classroom.  This was chosen, as I am an instructional specialist in technology at Elgin High School.  The district is 1:1 iPad for grades 6-12.  A classroom that is filled with iPads, has the potential to be a personalized learning hub.  Where students are able to pursue learning in their own desired ways.  Making the learning authentic and relevant to them.  Unfortunately, I saw there was a need for drastic support for this to occur.  From this recognition, I developed an initial innovation plan.  A plan to encourage teachers to utilize iPads to their fullest extent.  This plan has changed throughout my coursework, and I am still in the process of working the plan in my job.  It is a long journey, but I hope to inspire a change in the forms of learning at Elgin ISD.  

The assignments in the Digital Learning and Leading program follow the COVA model.  This model has taken shape in the cohorts that have gone through the Lamar program.  Dr. Harapnuik, Dr. Thibodeaux, and Dr. Cummings have developed a model that encouraged student’s choice, voice, and ownership in an authentic learning environment.  Dr. Harapnuik writes about why the COVA model is significant in student learning as it is “fundamental to learning” (n.d.).  Developing an innovation plan that was essential to my job, and one that I could develop based on research and readings encouraged me to delve deeper into making it more relevant to me.  It was as if the further I developed an authentic plan, the more I felt like I owned the plan.  The more I felt I owned the plan, the more I wanted to make it authentic.  My biggest struggle, and still is my biggest struggle, is discussing and enacting this plan.  There are many initiatives and pushes going through the district.  As I have developed a sense of ownership, it is still my goal to push the plan through to improve the education of the students.  

The bulk of the program came in the last few courses.  Looking at digital citizenship, action research and online curriculum development were all areas that I knew of but had not focused much on.  Starting with a determination of learning style, I had to focus not just on the digital tools but their relationship to pedagogy and practicality in the classroom.  The coursework is focused on a constructivist approach.  I took that approach but added the necessity of cognition as well.  As I determined, it is not just the learning experiences that increase learning, but also the reflection of those experiences that form a strong foundation for the learning.  As Sal Khan speaks about in his “Let’s Teach for Mastery” TED talk, students should master concepts before continuing (2015).  I add one more step to that, there should be reflection time as well as mastery.  This allows the glue, mortar, and cement to set before the next layer is added to the house.

This idea of metacognitive reflection was prominent in the entire coursework.  As I worked on online course development, it was the reflection pieces in my eportfolios that I learned the most.  Having time to look at my success and failures.  Looking at doing research, that was relevant and relatable to my career, it was the reflection of the results that were important.  Even in digital citizenship, it was looking behind the rationale of what it meant to be a good digital citizen where I felt most of the learning occurred.  Having a forward, public-facing eportfolio gave me an audience to share this learning.